Radical Right-Wing Political Parties and Groups
The largest and most prominent extreme right organisation in Slovakia is the Slovak National Party (SNP), which considers itself an heir to the Nationalist Party from 1920-1940s.
In 2011, "Our Slovakia" party has been established by Marian Kotleba. Same as SNP, the party declared itself an heir to Joseph Tiso’s policies. According to various sources, there are around 500 active members of neo-Nazi groups in the country and several thousand supporters.
In 2012, SNP campaigned against “disproportional benefits” for “certain ethnic groups”, clearly referring to Roma. The party suggests forced labour for Roma, cutting their child benefits if they do not attend school and teaching children in special boarding schools to “remove them from the dangerous environment”. SNP also campaigned for criminal punishment for “illegal construction”, which was also aimed against Roma. The party intimidated voters with the “Hungarian threat” and the “Islamic offensive”.
In 2013, SNP positioned itself against same-sex marriage, multiculturalism and migration, which damages Christian values and historical features of the country, according to the party.
Our Slovakia talks about “Israeli aggression” which Slovakia should not take part in. However, Our Slovakia party’s main focus is Roma, or as the party calls them – “gypsy extremists” and “parasites”. It poses itself against liberalism, which “breeds atheism, dangerous sects and sexual perversions,” and intimidates voters by saying that they can be “enslaved by foreign nationals, immigrants and ethnic minorities”. The party is decisively against LGBT community.
In 2012, SNP campaigned against “disproportional benefits” for “certain ethnic groups”, clearly referring to Roma. The party suggests forced labour for Roma, cutting their child benefits if they do not attend school and teaching children in special boarding schools to “remove them from the dangerous environment”. SNP also campaigned for criminal punishment for “illegal construction”, which was also aimed against Roma. The party intimidated voters with the “Hungarian threat” and the “Islamic offensive”
In 2013, SNP positioned itself against same-sex marriage, multiculturalism and migration, which damages Christian values and historical features of the country, according to the party.
"Our Slovakia" talks about “Israeli aggression” which Slovakia should not take part in. However, Our Slovakia party’s main focus is Roma, or as the party calls them – “gypsy extremists” and “parasites”. It poses itself against liberalism, which “breeds atheism, dangerous sects and sexual perversions,” and intimidates voters by saying that they can be “enslaved by foreign nationals, immigrants and ethnic minorities”. The party is decisively against LGBT community.
Marian Kotleba became governor of Banská Bystrica district on November 23, 2013, receiving 55% of votes. His victory was largely influence by an extremely low voter turnout (17.29%) and higher level of political participation among nationalists. Kotleba appointed his party colleagues to several positions across the region.
In 2014 local elections, his party passed 41 heads of rural communities and 841 local councillors. 17 Mayors, 110 heads of rural communities and 279 local deputies supported SNP in their campaign” However, given that Slovakia has 130 cities and more than 2700 rural communities, these results are insignificant.
Marian Kotleba became governor of Banská Bystrica district on November 23, 2013, receiving 55% of votes. His victory was largely influence by an extremely low voter turnout (17.29%) and higher level of political participation among nationalists” Kotleba appointed his party colleagues to several positions across the region.
In 2014 local elections, his party passed 41 heads of rural communities and 841 local councillors. 17 Mayors, 110 heads of rural communities and 279 local deputies supported SNP in their campaign” However, given that Slovakia has 130 cities and more than 2700 rural communities, these results are insignificant.
In general, NS Kotleby by the turn of the 20s. The 21st century becomes the recognized leader of far-right extremism in the country, gaining enough support to enter the highest democratic institutions - and not once, but four times. In 2013, Kotleba won the governorship of Banska Bystrica, which helped his party get into the national parliament in 2016 and 2020 with 8% of the vote. In 2019, the National Assembly also won two seats in the European Parliament.
While the NC likes to pose as a respectable party these days, its extremist roots are not too hard to discern. The party regularly commemorates the anniversary of the fascist wartime Slovak state on March 14, as well as the anniversary of its president, Józef Tiso, who was sentenced to death for war crimes in 1947, by putting up billboards with anti-LGBT, migrant or Roma slogans. Its members and supporters march through the cities in dark uniforms modeled after Glinka's Nazi guards from World War II.
Since 2016, the National Assembly has launched "train patrols", which, according to it, were supposed to protect "decent people" from "anti-social" elements. In practice, this meant neo-Nazi thugs in green T-shirts intimidating the Roma and then posing as "heroes" on social media, which worked to build their electorate base. As already mentioned, in the 2020 parliamentary elections, the party won 17 out of 150 seats in parliament. Among the elected representatives of the National Assembly were several individuals prosecuted or convicted of hate crimes, including party chairman Marian Kotleba, who was convicted of charitable donation with Nazi symbols; Andrei Medvetsky, convicted of assaulting a foreigner because of race; Stanisław Mizik, acquitted for lack of evidence of posting an anti-Semitic message on his Facebook profile criticizing the President for conferring state awards on citizens of Jewish origin; and Milan Mazurek, convicted of making anti-Roma statements on a radio broadcast, who left the National Assembly in January.
However, no less dangerous than political parties are the so-called. "lone wolves" who themselves spread hate and facilitate violent extremism and terrorism through the cyber environment. One of these people was arrested in June 2022 by Slovak and American intelligence agencies with the support of Europol. This person allegedly widely distributed instructions on the Internet "how to make homemade weapons" along with propaganda of violent extremism.
An unidentified individual known in the international far-right cyberspace is suspected of spreading extremist hate speech and terrorist activities. Associated with groups and individuals spreading neo-Nazi, far-right and extremist white supremacist propaganda, he is part of the so-called Siege extremist movement. This online extremist community is connected to the network, although at the same time based on "offline actions".
The suspect published instructions and diagrams for the manufacture of improvised edged weapons, improvised automatic firearms, explosives and mines, as well as instructions for carrying out acts of sabotage. The instructions include domestically made automatic firearms made in combination with 3D printed parts and homemade metal parts. The suspect is currently in custody pending further investigation. During raids on May 11 in Slovakia and May 23 in the Czech Republic, law enforcement agencies found a highly sophisticated 3D printer and electronic devices.
